retiredmartin

March 2025. Hitchin.

Mrs RM’s quest to visit all the countries in Europe (she such a ticker) reaches a pause, if not a conclusion, in Moldova. For now, Belarus seems A Bad Idea, if only because of the rumoured lack of Bass.

Luton Airport is home to Wizz Air, budget airline to all of Eastern Europe, and so far it’s been drama-free.

The toughest part is finding budget parking, and we’ve taken to sleeping in the campervan the night before those 6am flights, but to minimise the cost we couldn’t arrive till 9pm.

So, 3 hours to kill in Hitchin, which looks a deal more interesting than when we left it a quarter of a century ago.

A lot has changed in the town centre, though the Rose & Crown (keg Flowers in 1994) stands firm as the lone boozer.

Elsewhere, all is changed, shops converted to small bars of every type. The only pub I recognise in this little snapshot is the Highlander,

and that’s gone upmarket since Mrs RM lived a street behind it when I first met her.

We really ought do a proper night here, Hamm and Teller both have future GBG potential. But for now, we drank flat whites and wrote blog posts in the Spoons, under the watchful gaze of Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon.

Yes, the Queen Mother was born here (not IN the Spoons, silly), though the Angel Vaults is better known for two classes of Gents.

Hitchin is a good example of a Home Counties market town in 2025; streets deserted at 5pm, cafes and pubs busier than I remember.

We took the scenic walk past St Mary’s,

and a rarely-seen bit of Herts street art,

and then inevitably ended up at the Raj Douth for a leisurely tea.

Someone just thanked me for my original post on this classic town curry house, a dying breed, and I’m delighted to say that while the wallpaper may have had a Marston’s style makeover, the curries are the same as ever.

The Southworths would know what I mean if I compare it to the Monsoon in Filey.

A bargain, too, and we filled a doggy bag for a 5am breakfast the next morning. Not a good idea, reheating a curry in a campervan, but you can’t waste a good dansak.